Maggot
by Maintenant
Summary: "Your name is going to be Maggot," The voice, her mother, a distant part of her recognizes, says, "Because that is all you will ever amount to." Her mother is not wrong. But that's all right. After all, what maggots are best at is surviving. SI/OC! Story
1. Meet Maggot

**A/N:** I know! I know! I have so many unfinished stories and I should definitely be working on them instead of writing a new one, but this plot bunny just wouldn't leave me alone! I tried guys, I swear I did, but I just had to write things down. I blame it on all the great Naruto fanfictions there are out there. So, well, here is my first SI/OC story! Please enjoy!

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Naruto

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Prologue

"Umino Iruka." The voice is low and steady, and Iruka nearly jumps out of his seat from where he was grading papers, as he does every morning before class, pen scratching an ugly black line over the test in front of him. He'll have to make a note to apologize to – he looks at the name at the top corner of the page – Kenichirou Rei when he returns it.

When Iruka turns around, he is not surprised to find a man in a white rabbit mask and standard grey and black ANBU uniform standing in his living room. Although Iruka is only a chuunin, he is still a fairly competent ninja, and he likes to think that anyone other than ANBU and certain jounin cannot simply invade his home without his detecting them.

Frowning in slight concern – Had something happened to one of his students? Was Naruto in trouble again? – Iruka waits for the ANBU to speak.

"The Hokage requests your immediate presence in his office." And with that, the ANBU promptly disappears into the darkness, only the faintest wind betraying his movements.

Iruka sighs. While he appreciates the ANBU and their incredible skill, he sometimes thinks that their jobs make them forget any sort of social skills. Take Kakashi for example. ANBU Captain for years, and completely and utterly lacking in common courtesy. A more reclusive and anti-social man he has yet to meet. Iruka suspects it is due to trauma. The missions they go on… it would warp anyone, especially someone who started as young as Kakashi, and if a little strangeness allows him to cope, then Iruka thinks he is quite allowed.

Frankly, further thinking of Gai, the Sannin, and even the Hokage, it seems all the best ninja have some sort of strange quirk or other.

Iruka does not waste time in heading to the Hokage's office after the ANBU leaves. When the Hokage requests your immediate presence, then you immediately go to him, no questions asked.

Yet even as he speeds past the Konoha buildings over to the Hokage Tower, he cannot help the questions running through his head. Iruka has no illusions about his skill as a ninja or about his place in the ninja hierarchy. He possesses no particular skill, is of no clan, and is not in possession of much money. The only thing that marks him as different is his position as instructor at the Academy, admittedly an instructor more carefully watched than others since his class is composed of six clan heirs, one clan second son, and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, but an instructor nonetheless.

It is not all too uncommon for him to be summoned to the Hokage's office exactly because of whom he teaches, but it is uncommon for him to be summoned in the early hours of the morning, and requested to appear _immediately._

Iruka cannot help the anxiety that grips him, for this is undoubtedly about one of his students, and he cares for each and every one of them.

An odd thing for a ninja instructor, truth be told, but he can't help it. Perhaps it is why he remains a chuunin after all this time. He has too much heart.

Worrying won't do anything, however, and as he watches the entrance doors of the Hokage Tower open, he knows that his questions will be answered soon regardless.

When he finally arrives at the Hokage's office, he calms down. The Hokage is sitting behind his desk, smoking his pipe and looking out over Konoha from the large windows in his office. Iruka thinks he looks very tired, his wrinkles more pronounced, eyes weary and sunken, and with a look about him as though the weight of the world is bearing down on him. Iruka is abruptly reminded that the Hokage had resigned before, but was forced back into the post due to his successor's death.

"Hokage-sama," Iruka bows. Although he has a closer relationship to the Hokage compared to other chuunin because of their shared love of Naruto, Iruka is a bit of a stickler for formality and would never dream of addressing the leader of the village hidden in the leaves with anything less than utmost respect.

"Sit down, Iruka," The Hokage commands, and Iruka obeys silently.

Tearing his gaze away from the scene of the village waking up, the Hokage takes out a paper from one of his desk's drawers and places it between them. Iruka peers over at the paper, and his eyes widen at the picture he finds.

"Iruka, you will be taking in a new student today," The Hokage informs, and his voice, like his appearance, is incredibly tired.

"Hokage-sama?" Iruka questions confusedly, "It's still the middle of the school year. Wouldn't it be better to wait till the year is over? A new student will have a difficult time adjusting should they enter now, not only academically, but socially as well." It is true. Bringing in a student this late into the year is almost cruel. Not only will they have a difficult time catching up on the material – a half a year's worth – but also integrating into the class, where cliques have not only been formed, but also tested and proven solid.

"It does not matter, Iruka. You will be taking her in," The weight of the Hokage's gaze wears on Iruka, "this afternoon." At Iruka's still questioning look, he offers magnanimously, "There are extenuating circumstances."

Iruka has always had the utmost respect for his Hokage, and he wouldn't dream of contesting any decision of his, but when it comes to his students – past, present, and future – he can be uncharacteristically insistent. Already, he feels protective of this new girl who is coming in unprepared, and it is only for this reason that he presses.

"Would it not be best to send her to a civilian school for the rest of the year? They are generally more accepting of transfer students, and the curriculum is less… overwhelming." The Academy is certainly not known for coddling.

"She will be going to the Academy to train to be a ninja, Iruka. There is no other acceptable option," The Hokage looks sternly at the brown-haired instructor, and Iruka feels as though he is five again and he's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I suggest you start preparing for her arrival."

And that is that.

A million questions run through Iruka's mind.

 _What extenuating circumstances are you talking about? Who is this girl? Why are you having her join in the middle of the school year? Is she from a clan? Is she from outside Konoha? Why are you personally seeing to it that she attends the Academy?_

 _Is she the reason you look so very tired?_

Iruka voices none of these questions, not only because he sticks to protocol, but because there is a look in the Hokage's eyes that says that asking would not bode well for the brown-haired instructor.

Instead, Iruka bows, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Iruka takes the paper from the Hokage's desk, the profile of his future student he guesses, and moves to leave the office.

"Oh, and Iruka?" Iruka is stopped by the Hokage's voice before he can leave.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Keep an eye on the girl, won't you?" The Hokage asks, and though the question seems casual, his face is uncommonly grave.

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Iruka shunshins out.

.

.

.

"Class, you have a new student today! Treat her well!" The teacher, Iruka, announces. He's a plain-looking man, average height and average build, with average brown hair tied in a ponytail and average brown eyes. The only thing that makes him the slightest bit interesting physically is the horizontal scar set just under his eyes, crossing his nose.

It is perhaps due in part to the teacher's very average-ness that the small girl who comes in through the door after him seems even more unique to the students.

The girl coming in is beautiful, competing with the popular aristocratic Sasuke in looks. She is not the "cute" so often found in those their age, nor the slightly rarer "pretty" that some of the girls and more delicate-looking boys can boast. No, the girl is beautiful, with the potential to rival even the great beauties of the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans in the future. But many of the students have seen beautiful people before, for they are not all that uncommon among ninja, and it is not this that has them so very taken aback. Instead, it is the oddness of the girl's beauty, the ethereality of her appearance, some strange, exotic element to her that surprises them.

The girl's coloring is all soft creams and soothing lilac, as though an artist had decided to paint while forgetting to bring all his colors with him. Certainly, the girl is akin to a work of art. More than one person has compared her to a doll before, and the class can only do the same. The girl is blessed with flawless porcelain skin as pure as the very snow, silky white hair that falls delicately around her face, and long eyelashes framing eyes the loveliest shade of purple they have ever seen. The inevitable gangly awkwardness inherent to all children that are still growing into their bodies does not seem to exist in her, and she moves with quiet grace and confidence, as though perfectly aware of exactly what people think of her looks.

Immediately upon laying eyes upon her, all the boys, and quite a few girls, flush.

"Please welcome-" Here Iruka pauses, turns to the young girl by his side again, as though realizing he does not know what to call her, "What did you say your name was again, dear?"

The girl, picture of loveliness that she is, smiles brightly at Iruka and whispers something to him, unheard by the rest of the class, despite the utter silence that has befallen them since the appearance of the girl.

"Sorry, what did you say your name was?" The teacher's eyes are wide and tinted with disbelief, unknowingly fanning the flames of curiosity of the class.

The young girl shoots Iruka an amused look, as though she finds his flustered state cute, akin to a puppy that has lost his favorite toy even though it is right behind him, before presumably repeating what she had previously said.

"A-Ah, I see. Are you sure-" The girl looks even more amused, and Iruka flushes, muttering, "What am I saying? It's your name, of course you're sure." Then, in a louder voice now addressing the rest of the class, who are now all brimming with curiosity as to the reason for the bizarre exchange, he says, "Class, please welcome Maggot. She will be your classmate from now on."

The class doesn't quite react at first. Who is the unfortunately named Maggot and where is this person? And why is Iruka-sensei introducing this Maggot when there is a pretty girl standing beside him?

The girl in question, smiling and insouciant, steps forward and bows prettily to the class, "Hello. I'm Maggot. Please treat me well."

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 **A/N:** Couldn't get my mind off this character that is charming and beautiful, but who is named Maggot. Anyway, leave a review if you like it! Thanks for reading!


	2. Maggot has a Secret

**A/N:** A big thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed! You guys motivated me to write another chapter! Thanks for all the support! 

I write all of these by myself, so I apologize for any errors you find!

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Naruto.

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Maggot has a secret.

It's a secret she hasn't ever told anyone, for Maggot has often found that a secret is only kept when it is known by exactly one person – more than that and it is no longer a secret, it's a well-known fact waiting to happen.

Maggot's secret is that she is not an entire person.

She does not mean this is in the physical sense. She has ten fingers, ten toes, two legs, two arms, two eyes, one nose, one mouth, etc. She also has the full use of all of her senses; sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch all work perfectly fine. She is not mentally addled, at least she doesn't think so, nor is she prone to any sort of other mental illness that she can tell.

No, Maggot's lack of person-ness is more… spiritual.

Before Maggot was Maggot, she went by a different name, one she can't quite remember now, but one that existed all the same, and lived in a different world, where she learned, loved, lived, and eventually died.

It was all rather normal.

It is what happens next that is problematic.

See, by some quirk in the reincarnation process, Maggot was reborn into a world she had previously thought was pure fiction, with most of the memories of her previous life intact.

That, in and of itself, would not be quite so bad. Rather, it would be some sort of advantage, she supposes, an edge to help her through her next life, the kind of thing that happens to the heroine in a story.

Except there were some _more_ problems with the reincarnation process.

Which had the unfortunate result of making Maggot rather… odd.

Maggot suspects that when the process failed to erase her memories, they also accidentally misplaced part of her soul.

She's sure it's some idiot newbie in the heavenly realm who was put in charge of her case, messed up, and then covered it up in order not to get in trouble with his superiors, leaving Maggot to bear the brunt of the issue.

Maggot is not at all surprised that it is her soul that was assigned to some newbie angel. It's really just par of the course considering her luck.

Anyway, the point being that Maggot is not in possession of a full soul.

So, you see, Maggot is not quite a person, not completely. She's perhaps half of a person, three quarters at the very most.

As a consequence, some of the basic things that define humans are… lacking… in Maggot.

For example, every human has desires; some sort of want or purpose that fuels them.

Maggot remembers having desires in her previous life. She remembers studying hard because she wanted to be a doctor, remembers wanting to marry one of her fellow medical students, remembers wanting to have children and own a cat.

The Maggot before she was Maggot had a great many desires.

Now, Maggot has very little she desires, in fact she can't quite think of anything at all, except perhaps the desire to survive.

But even that is rather questionable.

It is not so much the desire to survive, as it is the desire to not die.

Contrary to popular opinion, the two are not, in fact, the same thing.

Maggot desires to not die because she doesn't want to have someone mess up the reincarnation process _again_. It would probably be the very same newbie angel, too! Imagine being reborn next time, with less than three quarters of a soul! Why, she'd be even less of a person than she already is, and Kami knows this is already quite enough trouble!

To compensate for this _lack_ , Maggot studies people. She studies them very hard, constantly observing, analyzing, learning.

She copies their movements when she is alone, practices smiling cheerfully in front of a mirror so that it reaches her eyes, molds her face into various expressions and memorizes how they feel so that she may pull them out when necessary, like cards in a game.

No one ever suspects a thing.

Maggot finds that pretending to be a person is really quite easy.

.

.

.

"Well, M-Maggot," The teacher stumbles over her name adorably, and Maggot thinks how funny it will be to watch him feel like he's insulting one of his students every time he calls on her. He seems the type to have never called anyone anything worse than 'idiot'. "Feel free to take any available seat. There are no assigned seats in this class."

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." Maggot pretends not to have noticed his stuttering over her name and smiles sweetly back at him. He looks like a nice man, after all, and it won't do to be disliked by her teacher so soon.

Looking over her new fellow students, Maggot notes that thirty or so sets of eyes are fixed on her.

If Maggot were an entire person, she is certain this would be intimidating.

Sometimes Maggot doesn't mind not being an entire person.

The structure of the Academy classroom reminds her of the university lecture rooms from her previous life. It inclines upward, so that the teacher and the blackboard are at the lowest point of elevation and the people all the way at the back of the class are at the highest, so that everyone has a good view of the teacher. The desks are not individual, but rather a series of long wooden tables fitting three students at a time organized into neat rows and columns.

On one side of the room are windows facing the outside, overlooking a grassy field with numerous beat up training dummies decorating it. On the other side are just two windows on the ground floor of the classroom, from which the Academy corridor can be seen.

Making her way up the stairs, Maggot looks for a seat right in the middle of the class. The back implies she's a slacker, a notion reinforced by the one sleeping student sitting at the last row and the boy loudly eating chips beside him, and the front implies she's an overachiever or big into academics, a notion also reinforced by the pink-haired girl furiously taking notes of the blackboard. The blackboard that only has the word "chakra" currently written on it.

Maggot wants to sit right in the middle, where no assumptions are made and chances of people noticing her are notably less. She doesn't want to draw attention, after all. She may be good at pretending to be a person, but there is no need to invite more attention to herself and give others more opportunities to catch her if she slips.

Finally, Maggot spots an empty seat next to a pretty dark-haired girl in traditional clothing with the oddest pupil-less eyes. Maggot has no room to judge the lack of pupils, though, being lacking and empty in other, more important, ways herself, so she cheerfully sits next to the dark-haired girl.

"Hey," Maggot whispers just loudly enough for her new seatmate to hear, flashing the pretty girl a friendly grin. "My name is Maggot, what's yours?"

The dark-haired girl's pupil-less eyes go wide like saucers, and Maggot suppresses a giggle at the amusing reaction. Did she think Maggot was going to just ignore her after sitting next to her? The white-haired girl spends most of her time observing people, and she's fairly sure that greeting a seatmate is the socially expected thing to do.

"H-Hyuuga Hi-Hinata," The pretty girl – Hinata – stutters, managing to look Maggot in the eye for all of two seconds before looking back down shyly.

Maggot thinks the girl is adorable, like a doll she owned in her previous life. She is also fairly sure she recognizes the dark-haired girl's name from somewhere, but dismisses it as recognizing the famous Hyuuga last name. The Hyuuga clan is one of the main noble clans of Konoha, after all, rivaled only by the Uchiha, and everyone knows their name.

"It's nice to meet you, Hinata-chan," Maggot greets casually. "Take care of me from now on, yeah?"

Hinata's eyes become even wider, as though surprised that Maggot would continue being so friendly even after hearing the poor girl stutter, before blushing slightly and nodding fervently.

"A-Ah. I-It's n-nice to m-m-meet you t-too, M-Maggot-san." She bows her head slightly. A formal girl, then. Maggot can deal with that. "P-p-please t-take care of m-me as w-well!"

In her nervousness, Hinata says the last part a little louder than intended and blushes adorably when the surrounding students turn to look at her and Maggot.

Maggot laughs, "No worries, Hinata-chan."

With a few more friendly words from Maggot and hesitant stutters from Hinata, the two girls soon quiet down in order to pay attention to the lesson.

As time passes, Maggot quickly finds herself growing rather bored. She's not sure what she expected from a ninja school, but Maths certainly wasn't it. The middle school math problem on the board mocks Maggot with how disgustingly easy it is. The teacher – Iruka-sensei – has given them half an hour to complete it, but Maggot finished hers in the first ten. She now has twenty minutes to spend doing absolutely nothing. Maggot is not in possession of great intelligence, or at least she wasn't in her previous life, but having an entire life of intense studies – because all the rumors about med school are _true_ and it was utterly, utterly excruciating - to fall back on will make certain subjects painfully easy. Perhaps Maggot should just be lucky that the seven-year-olds around her seem to be at a middle school math level instead of elementary.

Maggot frowns slightly as she thinks she'll have to find a way to discover other students' scores in order to ensure hers are perfectly average.

"Are you doing all right, Maggot?"

Maggot turns to find the teacher standing beside her, having snuck up on her while she was thinking, once again cringing a little when he says her name, but nevertheless kindly checking up on her.

Immediately, Maggot oh-so-casually leans forward and places both arms on the table, leaning on her elbows as though to lean towards the teacher, coincidentally covering her paper with the successfully completed math problem on it.

"It's a little difficult, sensei, but I'm sure that I'll be able to catch up eventually," Maggot smiles at her teacher.

"Oh, would you like me to help you?" Iruka-sensei's face is all that is kind and helpful in the world. "I can explain the concept, go over some of what you've missed?" He reaches for her paper with the completed math problem on it. Maggot doesn't move her arms. "I can give you an example problem and help you through it-"

"There's no need for that, sensei, honestly." Maggot interrupts kindly, turning her smile up a notch, and thinks that it's exactly when you want a lazy, uncaring teacher that you get one who has it as a calling. "I'm sure that Hinata-chan can help me through it, right Hinata-chan?"

Maggot looks to her right where the dark-haired girl is seated, and Hinata, bless her, nods earnestly.

"I-I w-would l-l-love to he-help Maggot-san, Iruka-sensei." Hinata tells the teacher. Maggot discretely glances at her seatmate's paper and finds, to her surprise, that the girl is missing only two steps to get the right answer. A good student, then.

"See, sensei? I'll be just fine with Hinata-chan." Maggot reassures him, wishing he'd just leave already.

Iruka-sensei still doesn't look entirely convinced. "Oh, but I wouldn't want Hinata to spend her learning time helping a new student. That's the teacher's job…"

Persistent bastard. Time for a different approach, then. "But Iruka-sensei, I'd be embarrassed if the whole class saw you singling me out like that. I really want to make a good first impression," Maggot whispers to him, widening her eyes and doing her best to look hesitant and pitiful. It's quite fortunate for Maggot that Hinata is her seatmate and half her expressions are exactly that, good for imitation. "I'd feel much more comfortable if Hinata-chan helped me."

The teacher looks ready to say something else, so Maggot quickly continues, whispering so lowly that Iruka has to lean in to hear and even Hinata can't make out the words. "And I'd really like the opportunity to get to know Hinata-chan, sensei. I don't know anyone in class, and everyone already seems to know each other, so it'd be really nice to have an excuse to talk to Hinata-chan and maybe become friends. Would you mind it so much if she helped me just this once?"

Iruka-sensei's eyes widen as though he has just arrived at some sort of epiphany, and he nods vigorously as though what Maggot says makes complete sense to him. "Of course, of course!" He looks to Hinata and smiles kindly, "It's good to see students helping each other like this. Good job, Hinata!"

Hinata's face blushes in a skilled imitation of a ripe tomato at the praise. She seems to become incapable of speech, but manages a short nod to the teacher.

Maggot takes advantage of the distraction, Iruka smiling at Hinata and Hinata blushing furiously, to discretely pocket her pencil, unnoticed by both teacher and student.

Finally satisfied with the situation and reassured that the new student is settling in, Iruka-sensei walks back down to the front and sits down at his desk, keeping an eye on the students, probably making sure no one sneaks a peak at their seatmate's paper.

"Ah, Hinata-chan. Would you mind lending me a pencil, as well? I can't seem to find mine." Maggot looks sheepishly at her seatmate.

"O-Of c-course, M-Maggot-san. I-I h-have extra," Hinata smiles, looking giddy at the prospect of being able to help. Maggot is reminded of an overeager puppy.

The pretty black-haired girl quickly gets to work looking for a pencil for Maggot and the white-haired girl uses the opportunity to swiftly flip over her paper while her seatmate's head is bent over her pencil case, leaving only the blank side visible.

"H-Here you g-go, M-Maggot-s-san." Hinata hands her a rather expensive looking pencil. "I-I'd be h-happy i-if you u-used it."

"Thank you, Hinata-chan! You're a real life-saver!" Maggot smiles brightly, and this time Hinata manages to maintain eye contact for three seconds before blushing furiously and looking down.

"I'll just wait until you're done with the problem, then. There's no rush, though, Hinata-chan, so please take your time." Maggot insists.

Hinata nods shyly, but Maggot can see her writing a little faster than before in an effort to help the white-haired girl sooner.

She really is adorable.

Taking a look around the class while Hinata works, Maggot spots a sharp-eyed boy with brown hair tied in an odd ponytail discretely watching her. He has his arms crossed in front of his table, his head laying lazily on them as though he's about to fall asleep, but there's an intelligence in those eyes that shines through and belies his lazy posture. Externally, Maggot smiles sweetly at him, the cheerful new girl who wants to make friends, but internally Maggot can't help but wonder how long he has been watching.

Did he watch the entire scene with Iruka and Hinata play out?

Maggot isn't sure, but she does know one thing.

She doesn't want those sharp eyes on her.

"U-Um… M-Maggot-s-san, I-I'm f-finished. W-would you l-like me to h-help y-you with the p-problem n-now?" Hinata's timid voice breaks Maggot out of her thoughts, and she turns away from the sharp-eyed boy to smile at her shy seatmate.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan, I really appreciate it!" Maggot grins, white locks bouncing in her enthusiasm.

"By the way, you can just call me Maggot, Hinata-chan. I'm not really big on formalities." Maggot waves her hand, showing exactly how little she cares about formalities.

"O-Oh n-n-no! M-Maggot-san, I c-couldn't p-possibly-" Hinata flusters.

"Please, Hinata-chan, I insist." Maggot smiles, "You'd be doing me a favor, really."

"T-Then y-you c-can call m-me H-Hinata, M-Maggot-sa," The pretty black-haired girl catches herself. "Maggot."

Hinata's smile is so jubilant that Maggot almost feels bad about manipulating her like she did.

Almost.

.

.

.

Maths is followed by Literature, which is slightly more interesting. Maggot has a fondness for poetry, or perhaps not so much a fondness but just that she knows a fair bit, but the realm of prose is completely unexplored.

Literature is followed by Strategy, which is followed by History.

Strategy is interesting purely because it is not the sort of class that would be taught in her previous life's world. Mostly because the vast majority of the situations the Academy students are given are ones of battle; what to do when you see a suspicious looking person at the Academy (inform the nearest familiar teacher after making sure he's not a ninja under a henge), what to do when on the field and your mission leader is incommunicado (follow the next ninja in the chain of command), what to do when you and your squad are in an open clearing and surrounded by enemy ninja on all sides (use a jutsu to tunnel underground and move yourself to a better location).

A lot of the answers to the situations can be found in books, but some of them can't, and Maggot is pleased to find that they are a good exercise for her brain.

The sharp-eyed boy who was observing her before proves himself to be particularly skilled at composing strategies for different situations. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that he seems to be honestly _sleeping_ when the teacher introduces the situation and gives the students time to think of a solution. Every time the sharp-eyed boy is chosen to answer, the teacher has to wake him– with much yelling and chalk-waving – and repeat the question, demanding an immediate answer. And the boy does come up with an immediate answer, and a good one, too, no hesitation whatsoever, apart from taking a moment to say "troublesome" before actually answering.

The teacher then moves on to writing the next situation on the board, grumbling all the while about "lazy Naras", which Maggot doesn't quite understand.

The boy's answers are never that from the textbook – probably because he looks the type to fall asleep on his textbook when trying to read, if he tries to read it at all – and are often superior somehow to the standard strategies the textbook provides.

A lot of the other children laugh when he spouts his more unorthodox strategies, mocking him for "getting it wrong" and saying he's still "half-asleep", but Maggot thinks they're brilliant.

Dangerously brilliant in fact.

If Maggot wasn't sure before, she is now positive that she doesn't want this boy observing her too often.

Maggot take pride in her acting, but even she can admit that his watching her with his sharp eyes can only lead to trouble.

Despite her enjoyment of Strategy, History is by far the most interesting subject. Maggot is fascinated to learn about the previous Hokages and their abilities – an interest she notices the hyperactive whiskered blonde sitting two rows behind her shares with her – as well as the story of Konoha's founding, but more interesting than that is the sheer volume of Konoha propaganda that is fed to children at school through History.

If it's not a near worship of the founders of Konoha, then it's an almost reverent respect for the hokages and their power as well as their "indelible kindness and generosity of spirit" – completely ignoring the fact that they were the military heads of a society of killers and assassins – and how wonderful the Land of Fire is compared to other countries.

She supposes propaganda is necessary when breeding child soldiers. It'd never work otherwise.

If Maggot were an entire person, she thinks she'd probably be horrified at the conditioning these children go through, the way the government teaches them to fight and kill and be utterly loyal to Konoha, sending these child assassins out on dangerous and violent missions before they've even properly reached puberty.

But Maggot is not an entire person, and she's fairly sure those who aren't entire people don't really have morals, so she can't quite muster adequate feelings of horror. Instead, she thinks it's all utterly _fascinating_.

Iruka, the average-looking brown-haired teacher who introduced her to the class and who tried to help her with the math problem, is there for every lesson, and in some of them a sort of assistant teacher named Mizuki also helps.

Lunch is spent with three of the more outgoing girls in class who are brave enough to talk to the attractive if weird-looking new girl named "Maggot". Maggot tries to include Hinata, but the girl disappeared as soon as the three girls approached. Apparently the pretty black-haired girl doesn't deal well with crowds, especially not with crowds of extroverted girls her age.

Still, with how fast and discretely the girl disappeared; Maggot thinks she must be a fantastic ninja. It's very impressive.

Throughout the lunch Maggot is, of course, all that is lovely and charming, and with a few well-placed compliments here and there and a smattering of cries of sympathetic outrage when one of the girls details how unfairly her mother treated her after she fought with her little brother, Maggot is soon joking and laughing with the girls as though they've been friends for ages. As a result of observing people so much and for so long in an attempt to pretend to be an entire person, Maggot considers herself a master of social cues and conventions – she knows exactly what to say and when to say it. She doesn't get embarrassed, or feel awkward, or feel any other feeling with any sort of intensity at all because of other people. Somehow, this results in an ease of manner that allows Maggot to navigate through many different social situations and come out smelling of roses.

Maggot always finds it amusing how easy it is to make people like her when she's not an entire person.

The three girls could be brutally murdered right in front of her, in the middle of their lunch, and Maggot wouldn't blink an eye. Yet Maggot's company is still preferable to that of an awkward yet caring and earnest person, just because Maggot is cheerful and pretty (lying and deceiving).

People are so silly. It is part of what makes them so very interesting to Maggot.

Maggot and the girls talk all lunch long. The girls share gossip, jokes, what their parents do, what pets they have, where they were born, and why they want to be ninja. The conversation never stops, and the three girls decide that Maggot is a fine addition the class.

It will be only hours later, as the three girls are tucked into bed and on the verge of sleep, that they realize they still know absolutely nothing about Maggot at all.

.

.

.

After lunch there is Taijutsu class, and this is where things get interesting for Maggot.

Mainly because she sucks at it. So much.

So, very, very much.

Well, perhaps that's a bit unfair on her.

She's certainly already better than a lot of the civilian children who seem afraid to give each other even a light tap. One of the girls looks just about ready to cry when she is set up in a practice spar against her best friend, something about not being able to hurt someone she likes so much. Some of these kids are so hesitant to commit any sort of violence that Maggot wonders exactly what they are expecting from the shinobi life.

In contrast, the clan kids show absolutely no hesitation in striking with their full strength.

Or, well, the clan kids except Hinata. While practicing alone the dark-haired girl's taijutsu is flawless, but whenever she is set up against a partner she obviously doesn't utilize her full strength.

Maggot is fairly sure the reason is linked with her stuttering and general insecurity.

The sharp-eyed kid also doesn't seem to be putting his full strength behind his hits, but Maggot suspects that's out of sheer laziness rather than any sort of hesitation to hurt others.

Maggot herself has no compunctions about causing violence. She's not an entire person – the idea of causing others pain brings her neither sadness nor joy. Perhaps some sort of odd fascination. In her previous life, after all, only criminals cut other people up and killed them. Even soldiers generally had the safety of their guns that allowed them to kill at long-distance, nothing so physical and personal as assassination brought by a shinobi. It brings Maggot a little thrill that she will be able to do – and be applauded for – what in her previous life she would have been shunned for even considering.

How strange societies and their values are.

So not wanting to harm others is definitely not what makes Maggot so horrible at taijutsu.

What makes her horrible at taijutsu is that she doesn't know any taijutsu at all.

While most of the class has been learning their stances and katas for years, Maggot has never learned any sort of formal martial arts, and she's starting from scratch.

And it is very, very visible.

A few of the girls in her class snicker as they watch the teacher walk her through the basic stances of the Academy-style taijutsu. From their loud whispers Maggot gathers that it's what five-year-olds learn.

(Maggot has often found that girls, when confronted with a prettier girl, either immediately like or dislike her. Most often, it is dislike, although hidden under a thin veneer of friendliness. If the pretty girl is of a different social standing – like a pop star or even just a student a year older – then she is admired for her beauty, but if she is of the same social standing, then all too often girls will be jealous of and resent her. If Maggot were an entire person, she'd find it sad how girls are so prone to resenting each other instead of supporting each other in a society where boys already have the greater advantage. As it is, she finds it amusing.)

Despite how utterly horrible Maggot is at taijutsu, Taijutsu is her favorite class.

There's something liberating about how she'll be able to give it her all in Taijutsu with no worries about her fellow students' levels. While in other classes she'll have to constantly concentrate in order to be perfectly average, in Taijutsu she can push herself to the very limits and still be below average, at least until she starts actually improving.

It's wonderful!

"Well, M-Maggot, I won't lie, there's still a lot of work to do, but your foundation is good," Iruka says kindly. It feels a bit like coddling to Maggot. "You have good sense of balance, which is rare in children your age, and you're not afraid of putting force behind your hits. I'm sure that with practice you'll be able to catch up with your classmates."

"Now, this movement is called the-" Loud shouting in the distance interrupts Iruka. They both turn to look and find a whiskered blonde and pretty-looking dark-haired boy fighting even though sparring time ended twenty minutes ago. "Give me a second, Maggot, I'll be right back!" And Iruka is rushing off to the scene of the commotion.

Maggot shrugs. She repeats the movements that have just been taught to her in an effort to become more accustomed with them.

"An okay face isn't going to make you into a good kunoichi, you know?" A high-pitched voice says snidely. Maggot turns to find one of the girls that had been snickering at her earlier sneering at her. "You should just give up on being a ninja now while you can."

The girl has long blonde hair reaching her waist, brown eyes, and is fairly average looking in appearance. Maggot guesses that she must be completely irrelevant in class, and saw the weird-looking if oddly pretty new girl with the nonexistent taijutsu skills and who hasn't had an opportunity to make friends yet as an easy target to feel superior through. The two girls with her, one with brown hair and one with black, who were also snickering at Maggot when Iruka was walking her through her katas, are grinning at the prospect of being able to bully the new girl.

Maggot doesn't stop her movements, however. She does not ignore the girls entirely, though, "Oh, you really think I'm pretty?" Maggot gushes, the effect only slightly ruined by the wobbly kick she gives to the air. "I've had people say so before, of course, but it's always nice to hear, you know. It's sweet of you to say."

The blonde girl, apparently the leader of the trio, fumes. "I'm not complimenting you! I'm saying that your taijutsu sucks! It's pathetic – you move like a five year old!"

"Well, it _is_ my first day." Maggot answers, tone still friendly and casual, "I'd have to be a genius to get it right the first time." She laughs, the vibrations making her punch even more awkward than it would have been otherwise. "And although I'd really like to be, I'm no genius, unfortunately. You seem pretty surprised at my lack of skill, though. Are you one of those geniuses that got it right on your first try?"

The blonde girl splutters, not quite having an answer to that, but the brown-haired girl next to her takes up the relay.

"Hey! It's rude to keep practicing when we're talking to you!" The brunette shouts loudly, and Maggot idly wonders if they even remember that they are trying to bully her and don't want to attract the teacher's attention. "Not only do you suck at taijutsu, but you're rude, too!"

Maggot keeps practicing her movements. Mostly because she _does_ need to get better at taijutsu in order to survive as a shinobi, after all, and the only way to do so is to keep practicing, but also because riling up these girls is so _easy_ it's funny. "Well, the only way I'll get better is if I keep practicing," She says calmly, as though oblivious to their attempts to bully her. "Can't be too much ruder than interrupting me when I'm practicing, I think. How about we talk after Taijutsu class is done?"

The blonde girl apparently recovered enough of her momentum to take control of the conversation again. "Yeah? Well how about I _show_ you how to do it?"

And with that, the blonde girl launches herself at Maggot.

Now, while Maggot does not know the taijutsu stances and is decidedly horrible at formal martial arts, she _is_ a fantastic dodger.

She sidesteps every punch, avoids every kick, ducks every cut. She's fairly sure that the blonde girl is a civilian, but her technique is good and she's putting her full strength behind her blows. Maggot's estimation of the girl goes up ever so slightly.

Which puts the girl at a solid zero now, because Maggot's estimation of her had been in the negatives previous.

"Stay still, damn it!" The blonde girl's face is red, whether from the exercise of repeatedly punching and kicking at nothing or the frustration of repeatedly punching and kicking at _nothing_ , Maggot isn't sure.

They continue on in the same vein for a while, until Maggot makes a mistake.

She really should know better, actually, after spending so much time observing others. She can't even be mad – she has no excuse.

It appears that even not-people can be overconfident.

Maggot had thought that since the blonde has superior skill, she and her friends wouldn't resort to underhanded tactics. Maggot was wrong.

She really should've known better. People will almost always resort to underhanded tactics.

While Maggot easily dodges another kick from the blonde, too busy amusing herself with how red the blonde is becoming to pay attention to much else, one of the blonde's lackeys discretely trips her, causing Maggot to fall down hard on her back onto the ground.

Maggot is left with no way to dodge the blonde anymore, and the girl takes liberal advantage of that fact, pouncing on her so that she's sitting on Maggot's torso. Maggot thinks the girl is incredibly heavy for a seven-year-old.

The blonde grins, all smug and vicious. She cocks her arm back and prepares a punch that might just break Maggot's nose.

Maggot may not have many desires due to her lack of person-ness, but she _does_ feel an aversion to experiencing pain.

So Maggot pulls out a kunai.

They say to never pull out a gun in a knife fight, and Maggot figures that extends to never pulling out a kunai in a fistfight. She's pretty sure it's some sort of lesson about not escalating the fight, but Maggot thinks that pulling out a kunai in a fistfight when you _know_ your opponent doesn't have a kunai is a pretty safe technique, and the only person who doesn't benefit from the escalation is her opponent.

Maggot can live with that.

The blonde's eyes widen in fear when Maggot pulls out a kunai. She moves to pull away, away from the kunai and its gleaming sharp edges, but Maggot doesn't let her, instead encircling the girl with her legs and crossing her ankles, locking her in position.

Maggot has a brief moment where she wonders where to cut the girl. A part of her really, really wants to cut right through the girl's face. Nothing so serious as to take out an eye, but she thinks a nice, long scar from the top of the girl's left eyebrow, through the nose, to the bottom of the girl's right cheek would feel rather satisfying. The blonde might even appreciate it – it would stop her from looking so terribly average.

But despite their being prospective ninjas, Maggot feels that scarring her classmate permanently, or even cutting her face, would attract undue attention towards her.

She settles, then, on cutting off a chunk of those long blonde locks, and smiles a bit at seeing them fall haphazardly to the ground.

The blonde is left looking at her fallen blonde hair in shock, her haircut now a strange bob that is shorter on one side than the other.

"Y-You cut my hair!" The blonde screeches. Her two friends beside her look horrified. From their expressions you'd think Maggot had decapitated her pet in front of her.

Maggot, still on the ground with the blonde sitting on her torso, laughs at how the girl seems so outraged at having her hair cut, when she doesn't even know how lucky she is that it wasn't her face.

"Maggot! Manami!" Iruka barks, storming towards them, apparently done breaking up the fight between the whiskered blonde and the pretty black-haired boy and now looking disapprovingly at both girls, "Exactly what is going on here?"

"Iruka-sensei!" The blonde starts, looking righteous and vindictive. She points an accusing finger at Maggot. The white-haired girl thinks the effect is quite ruined when the blonde is still sitting on her torso. "Maggot was-"

"We were sparring, sensei." Maggot interrupts, voice unconcerned and cheerful, and the blonde girl – Manami, apparently - looks incredulously at her, as though she can't quite believe that Maggot has the gal to interrupt her instead of cowering ashamedly in the corner and awaiting her rightful punishment. "Manami-chan, would you mind letting me up for a bit? My stomach is starting to hurt," The blonde, as though finally realizing how incriminating her position is, quickly gets up, allowing Maggot to do the same. "Thanks, Manami-chan," She smiles at the blonde, dusting off her clothes, just catching the confused shock look on her face at Maggot's use of cute honorific attached to her name. Maggot turns to Iruka again. "Anyway, Manami-chan saw how much difficulty I was having with the katas, so she offered to help me. It was really very nice of her, sensei, my classmates have been _so_ kind to me every since I got here. Manami-chan figured that the best way to learn is through sparring, since you already showed me most of the katas, sensei, so we did just that, but when I took out a kunai," She gestures towards the kunai in her hand, putting on her very best embarrassed expression, "I'm so very bad at taijutsu and kunai-wielding that I accidentally cut a chunk of her hair." Maggot looks down and bites her lip worriedly before perking up, "I think Manami-chan still looks cute with her hair like that, though." Maggot smiles sunnily at the blonde, "Isn't that right, Manami-chan?"

"Y-Yeah," Manami stutters, apparently now remembering that the truth includes the fact that Manami was trying to bully the new girl and realizing how very much she doesn't want Iruka-sensei to know about that. The blonde turns to the teacher and smiles in a way that is too wobbly to be convincing – honestly, _amateurs_ , Maggot thinks with a superior huff – but the wobbliness can be attributed to the fact she just lost a chunk of her hair. "I was just surprised about my hair, that's all, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka looks at both girls dubiously, staring intently as though their expressions would betray the truth. Neither of them says anything more, and eventually Iruka sighs, seemingly accepting their story.

The brown-haired teacher shoots Maggot a stern look. "We've not yet reached the point of fighting with kunai yet, M-Maggot. We're only throwing them for now. In the future, please refrain from sparring with a kunai without a teacher's express permission."

"Oh, sensei! I'm sorry!" Maggot exclaims worriedly, turning to the blonde Manami with wide, earnest eyes. "I didn't know, Manami-chan! I'm so sorry about acting so casually about cutting your hair- I thought it was a common sparring accident!"

Manami looks incredibly uncomfortable. "A-Ah. No, it's all right, M-Maggot-chan. It happens."

"Oh no, it's not all right at all!" Maggot says earnestly, putting a hand on Manami's arm in an innocuous gesture of sincerity, feeling the muscles under her fingers tense. "It's absolutely horrid of me to- to _cheat_ on a spar like that! It'd be like you using ninjutsu or- or having your friend trip me during the match! It's just not right!" Maggot's hold on Manami's arm tightens. "I hope you can forgive me, Manami-chan!"

"O-Of course, Maggot-chan!" Manami's smile towards Maggot is an ugly, uncomfortable thing. "It's fine."

Maggot turns to Iruka again, wide lilac eyes as big as she can make them, "Oh, Iruka-sensei, I feel absolutely horrible! I'm so sorry about using a kunai in a spar! I just assumed we were allowed to use them!"

Iruka seems touched by her concern, and moves to reassure the new girl, "It's all right, M-Maggot. You couldn't have known, after all. I should have said something. It _is_ your first day after all."

Maggot looks at the floor miserably, the picture of unconvinced dejection, and Iruka puts a comforting hand on her head and ruffles her locks. "It's fine, Maggot. You apologized to Manami, didn't you? That's the important part." He looks at the blonde in question. "And Manami accepted your apology, didn't she?"

Manami startles a bit at being addressed, having been staring at Maggot, transfixed. "Y-Yeah, Maggot-chan. These things happen."

Maggot positively _beams_ at Manami. "Oh, Manami-chan, do you really mean it? I'd really like us to be friends."

The blonde looks uncomfortable again, "Yeah, Maggot-chan. It's fine."

Immediately, Maggot takes Manami's hands into hers, clasping them tightly. "Oh, thank you, thank you, Manami-chan!" She gushes excitedly.

Iruka, watching the touching scene, smiles widely at Manami.

"Manami-chan, I'm glad you've decided to change your attitude recently." Iruka says, and Maggot confirms her suspicions that Manami has a history of bullying. "If you had continued the way you were I would have had to have a serious conversation with your parents. I'm proud of you for helping out Maggot, and for not getting mad at your cut hair. This is a sign you're really maturing, Manami." Iruka's smile is almost blinding with the kindness and approval it emits.

Manami gives him a shaky smile, hands shaking a little in Maggot's hands.

Maggot grins.


End file.
